David Wrench (singer)

David Wrench is a Welsh musician and studio producer/sound engineer from Anglesey, Wales.[1] He first came to public attention while still at school in 1989 with his first group Nid Madagascar, who according to Wrench, recorded the first Welsh language acid house record "Lledrith Lliw" as a 12" single in 1990.[2]

David Wrench
OriginWales
GenresPop/Folk/Experimental
Occupation(s)Musician/Producer/Engineer
Years active1989–
LabelsAnkst/Stoem/Invada

Reappearing some years later as a solo artist he was signed first to Ankst Records of Cardiff and later to Manchester-based Storm Music.[3] Wrench has made three albums, Blow Winds Blow (1997), which included Wrench acting as a multi-instrumentalist, The Atomic World of Tomorrow (2005) and Spades & Hoes & Plows (2010). He recorded an EP called Anti-War, which was ready to be released in November 2003 but due it including a cover version of "Creep" its release was blocked by Radiohead's legal team.[3] His 2004 single "Superhorny" was backed by "Fuck You And Your War on Terror", which was recorded live for Sheffield's radio2XS. The Atomic World of Tomorrow was described as synthpop, with a resemblance to artists such as the Pet Shop Boys and Scissor Sisters.[4]

In 2010 he released the album Spades & Hoes & Plows on Invada records. The album, which was produced by Julian Cope, comprises 3 re-workings of old revolutionary folk songs and one original instrumental piece based on the Rebecca Riots. Writing in the Sunday Times, Stewart Lee described the album thus: "In the face of young people's new enthusiasm for trad-lite, the Welsh weirdo David Wrench threatens to reunpopularise folk music, foregrounding puritanical politics over unpalatable instrumentation at funereal tempos. Fans of Lisbee Stainton are unlikely to enjoy Wrench's punishing, 24-minute rendition of "The Blackleg Miner" despite the invigorating and apocalyptically primitive Mellotron interludes supplied by Julian Cope's Black Sheep band. These weary recitations of traditional protest songs require patience, but by Helyntion Beca, a wordless closing workout inspired by 19th-century black-face transvestites attacking Carmarthenshire toll gates, the LP achieves a tortuous transcendence."[5]

When not working on his own music, Wrench is a studio Record Producer and Engineer. His credits as Producer include albums for Bear in Heaven (I Love You, It's Cool), Alessi's Ark (Time Travel), Race Horses (Goodbye Falkenberg), Zun Zun Egui (Katang), Y Niwl, Gwyneth Glyn, Skinny Lister (Forge & Flagon - co produced with the band). As an Engineer he has worked on albums by Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything, Kathryn Williams, Guillemotts, Beth Orton, James Yorkston, Nancy Elizabeth and Fanfarlo. As a mixer, he mixed the award-winning Swim album by Caribou. He has recently mixed albums by Is Tropical, Top Less Gay Love Tekno Party, Sunless 97 and Rich Aucoin. He was awarded the BBC C2 Producer of the Year award in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Wrench has also worked alongside Julian Cope and his flock of Black Sheep.[1]

Discography

Albums
  • 1997: Blow Winds Blow (vinyl LP/audio CD)
  • 1999: You Have Just been Poisened by The Serpents (audio CD with The Serpents)
  • 2005: The Atomic World of Tomorrow (audio CD)
  • 2010: Spades & Hoes & Plows (audio CD)

Singles and EPs
  • 1990: "Lledrith Lliw" (12" vinyl EP with Nid Madagascar)
  • 1997: "Black Roses" (7" vinyl)
  • 1997: "The Ballad of the Christmas Tree and the Silver Birch" (7" vinyl)
  • 1998: "No Mask, No Cloak, Dim Gobaith" (7" vinyl with The Serpents)
  • 1998: "Sings the Songs of the Shangri Las" (7" vinyl EP)
  • 2004: "Superhorny" / "Fuck You And Your War on Terror" (12" vinyl & CD EP)
  • 2004: "World War IV" (CD EP)
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References
  1. "Mercury Prize 2014: Producer David Wrench's split loyalties". BBC News Online. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. "David Wrench biography". BBC Wales. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. "A Great Wrench". Manchester Evening News. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. "The Atomic World of Tomorrow review". Glasswerk. 30 May 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. Lee, Stewart (4 July 2010). "Spades & Hoes & Plows review". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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